A question mark

Come to the point

• It would have helped ordinary citizens to appreciate the stand of the ‘‘left and democratic forces’’ if only Prakash Karat had told us where exactly lies India’s national interest (‘Betrayal on Iran: Costs of India-US partnership’, IE, September 30). We are not interested in facile arguments that we should have voted with Brazil, South Africa, et al or with Pakistan and Sri Lanka or coordinated with Russia and China. The point is not whether Iran is right or wrong. The point is, where our national interest lies.

— S.C.N. Jatar Pune

The gap, stupid

• The root cause of the Ganguly-Chappell fracas is the communication gap between the two. It is the BCCI which is responsible for this. It should have clearly defined the specific and overlapping roles of the coach and captain. Both the persons should be asked to solve the matter between themselves, and in case of a deadlock, refer the matter directly to the BCCI, and not involve the other members of the squad and the media in it.

— Arjun Chaudhuri Kolkata

So what’s new?

• Indian Communists and hypocrisy have been intimate with each other ever since Das Kapital hit Indian shores. That should no longer evoke any surprise among enlightened Indians, least of all a serious paper like Indian Express. Your editorial comment ‘Radical hypocrisy’ (IE, September 30) seems unnecessary and a waste of valuable space.

— G.S. Kulkarni Delhi

See it through

• Once again, the CBI has hit the national headlines by raiding the top guns from our corrupt bureaucracy to unearth treasures that would make even the richest tycoons turn green with envy. The crores of cash, tons of gold, and array of other properties that have been discovered in houses of our ‘‘babus’’ across departments have only confirmed the mammoth proportions of corruption in India.
Just for once, the people of this country would love to see that these big-wigs do not get away and are handed out exemplary punishment through speedy trial culminating in justice. To me, that would be empowerment.

— Kishore Karnad On e-mail

In a UPA mess

• India has had friendly relations with Iran long centuries before the US came into being. Iran’s keenness to proceed with a Iran-Pakistan-India gas pipeline showed how much that country valued good relations between us. On the other hand, the US has a record of using other countries to further its narrow interests and discarding them when their utility is over. The UPA government has made a hash of India’s foreign policy and the fall-out will bedevil us for years to come.

— C.J.M. Mathew Faridabad